Particle Physics Standard Model of Matter
What is the world made of? What holds it together? Fundamental Questions
Fundamental building block of matter Fundamental – simple and structureless that is not made of anything smaller What is the World Made of?
By 1900, scientists thought the atom was the fundamental building block of matter Today, we know the atom is not really fundamental because it is made up of a positive nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negative electrons. What is the World Made of?
Experiments have proven the nucleus is actually made up of positive charged protons and neutral neutrons Thus, the nucleus is also not considered “Fundamental” What is the World Made of?
Physicists have discovered that protons and neutrons are actually made up of even smaller particles called Quarks Current theory suggests that quarks the electron and a few additional particles are the fundamental building blocks of matter What is the World Made of?
Current theory of the fundamental building blocks of matter States all matter is made up of: 6 Quarks 6 Leptons Force carrier particles The Standard Model of Matter
Quark Symbol and Charge Quark NamePartner Quark Name Partner Quark Symbol and Charge u 2/3 UpDownd -1/3 c 2/3 CharmStranges -1/3 t 2/3 TopBottomb -1/3
The Standard Model of Matter Lepton Symbol and Charge Lepton NamePartner Lepton Name Partner Lepton Symbol and Charge e -1 ElectronElectron neutrino e -1 MuonMuon neutrino -1 TauTau neutrino